Refining sulfur



R. F. BACON AND c. N. WENRICH.

REFINING SULFUR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 6,1919.

f'atened IIIy 17, 1921.

25M, LW M M UNIT-ED STATES. PATENT -oi-Fica RAYMOND r. BACON AND cALvINN. WENRICH, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,

ASSIGNORS TO TEXAS GULF SULPHUR COMPANY, 0F BAY RATION 0F TEXAS.l

REFINING SULFUR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patnted May 17, 1921,

Application filed October 6, 1919. Serial 11%.l 328,902.

To all who/m, t may concern:

Be it known that we, RAYMOND F. BACON and CALVIN N. WENRIOH, bothcitizens of tlie United States, and residents of Pittsburgh, Alleghenycounty, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Refining Sulfur; and we do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of ,the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

In the mining of deep deposits of sulfur, such as those occurring in theStates of Texas and Louisiana, it is customary to melt the undergrounddeposit progressively by the introduction of hot water, and to take themelted sulfur in a stream of relatively large dimensions to the surfaceof the ground and thereupon divert it into receiving wells or sumps,wherein it is permitted to cool and solidify. It is then customary tobreak u'p the cooled and solidified sulfur into fragments of appropriatesize for loading upon cars intended 'for transporting it to the place ofdestination.

This cooling step, because of the low conductivity of sulfur for heat,is time-consuming and, after the sulfur is set, considerable expenditureof skill and energy is required to break it up into appropriatefragments for shipment. Even with care, the amount of fines isconsiderable, which, if charged into the cars, are liable to sift outand be lost in transport. I'So also, the attrition of the more` or lesssharp edges of the larger fragments of sulfur, during transport, adds tothe quantity of the fines and increases the danger of loss from thatsource. Finally, in the normal charging of a car with these fragments ofsulfur, it is found that there is ordinarily a very considerableinter-space between the solid constituents of the load thereby cuttingdown considerably the weight of sulfur `that is represented per unit ofspace occupied by the charge as a whole.

The purpose of the present invention is to substitute for the practicereferred to, a method for converting the molten sulfur into pellets orthe like, which may be produced of fairly uniform size and weightlargely within the controler choice of the operator. For most uses, itwill be convenient to produce these pellets of approx-i- Figure 1illustrates, in vertical elevation,

and diagrammatically, a suitable form of apparatus for putting it intopractice;

Fig. 2 represen-ts on a somewhat larger scale a fragmentary view of aportion of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, a indicates a suitable conduit for the meltedsulfur-which may convey it directly from the well or from any suitablestorage receptacle into the metal tank A provided with a removable top 5and having a steam jacket c for maintaining the body of sulfur withinthe receptacle A at a temperature of from 115 to 130 C.,

that is to say at a temperature at which the sulfur is of appropriateiiuidity for the uses of. the invention. The steam jacket is suppliedwith appropriate valves as shown for maintaining a suitable supply ofsteam of the desired pressure and at the desired rate through the steamjacket. A thermometer CITY, TEXAS, A CORPO- Z is provided for noting thetemperature of the molten mass.

The bottom of the receptacle A consists of a perforated plate. Theperforations of the plate have preferably the general form of truncatedcones, as indicated, on a larger scale 1n Fig. 2 of the drawing. Theentire tank A rests upon, and is supported by, a tank or receptacle Bhaving preferably a conical bottom and terminating in an outlet chute ehaving a cut-off valve as shown. The tank B is preferably of metal andis provided at its upper part with a heating medium of any suitablekind, as, fol inst ance, a steam jacket f, with inlet and outlet pipesfor the steam employed. It will be noted that the steam jacket orheating means encircles only the upper part of the tank B, and this isdesignedly so, in order that a ioo A los jacket f of sufficient volumeand temperature to permit the liquid contained inthe tank B to have atemperature 1n its upper part sufficient to allow the sulfur to passthrough the openings n of the perforated plate in the form of dropswhich, in passing through the upper layer of liquid in the tank B willassume first, an elongated and then a pellet-like form. Below the zoneencircled by the steam jacket f the liquid in the tank B is at a lowertemperature so that upon reaching the inclined bottom of the tank B thepellets will have assumed a definite shape. The bottom of the tank B visprovided with a cooling jacket for the passage of a suitablerefrigerating or cooling liquid, such as cold water, the function of thecooling jacket being to maintain the lower portion of the liquid in thetank B at such an appropriate temperature as will cause the pellets tomaintain their condition of solidity. At appropriate intervals, thepellets will be discharged from the tank B into the receiver C byopening the discharge gate or valve a2 in the chute e. The tank 7) isprovided with a suitable thermometer or thermometers, le, as shown, fornoting the temperature prevailing in the liquid medium contained in saidtank. As a means for preventing possible accidental coalescence of theelongated drops of sulfur as they pass through the openings n, thebottom plate of the tank A may be provided withv small tubularprojections p whose func-tion is to keep said drops apart until they arewell within the body of the liquid within tank B.

The -liquid within the tank B may be replenished continuously orperiodically through the valved supply pipe g. It should consist of aliquid, such as water, carrying in solution a sulicient quantity ot anappropriate salt such as calcium chlorid to give it an appropriatespecific gravity and a sufficiently high boiling point for the purposesof the invention.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the moltensulfur, by the practice ot the present invention, will be converted intopellet form. of a size and shape which may be varied within wide limits`by varying the size of the openings n constituting the bottom plate otthe tank A. These pellets are adapted for immediate shipment. Asreceived from the outlet chute c of the tank 7;, they are entirelydevoid of dust, they are relatively uniform in size, and have rounded,almost lustrous surfaces. In transport, they have no hard edges, andwhen charged into the usual paper bags, for distribution, they lack thetendency to perforate the bags which is characteristic ot' sulfur whichhas been broken up or blasted in the usual way. In addition to theestimated saving of about 50 cents per ton over the cooling and blastingmethod, it is also found that when charged in pellet form on a car anappreciably larger quantity of the pellets can be carried per unit ofavailable car space, on account of the greatly diminished interstitialair spaces between the solid constituents of the load.

lVhat We claim is:

1. The method of obtaining from mined sulfur, a sulfur productparticularly adapted for shipment or transfer, which comprisesmaintaining a body of the sulfur at a temperature ranging from about115"4 to 130o C. and supplying it in the form of drops into a body ofcooling liquid at such a rate compared with the volume and boilingtemperature of the liquid that the drops will coagulate into pellet formsubstantially as described.

2. The method of obtaining from mined sulfur, a sulfur productparticularly adapted for shipment or transfer, which comprisesmaintaining a body of the sulfur at a temperature ranging Jfrom about115o to 130 C. and supplying it in the form of drops into a solution ofa salt in water, such solution having a boiling point approximating thecongealing point of the sulfur, and solidifying said drops in pelletform in said solution; substantially as described.

3. The method of obtaining from mined sulfur, a sulfur productparticularly adapted for shipment or transport, which comprisessupplying the sulfur in drop form from a reservoir thereof maintained atan approximately uniform temperature somewhat above its melting point toa body of cooling liquid whose upper zone is maintained at a temperatureapproximating the congealing temperature of sulfur and whose lowerportion is at a lesser temperature and of sufficient depth to chill thedrops to pellet form; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we aix our signatures.

RAYMOND F. BACON. CALVIN N. VENRICH.

